


The Pregnancy

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-31
Updated: 2006-12-31
Packaged: 2019-01-23 13:56:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12508964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: [Fic Exchange '06] After they sleep together for the first time, Alice starts doubting her desire to marry Frank. But what's a pregnant girl to do?





	The Pregnancy

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Merry Christmas, Trish!**

 

Alice Prewett looked back at all the faces grinning openly at her, their avid interest clearly displayed. Briefly, she wondered if she should fib, but she’d always been a hopeless liar; they’d catch her out before she even finished the sentence. 

The truth was, she didn’t want to tell them not because she felt it was a sacred secret, something only she and Frank should know, but because…there was nothing to say, really. She couldn’t even remember half of it; they had been so drunk on Firewhiskey that she could only recall snatches of memories. 

And it had been a huge disappointment, honestly. Granted, they were both still quite young, only seventeen, but what if their joint performances _never_ improved? If the declaration of love he’d whispered in her ear while taking off her blouse was true, then she’d have to marry him, because she loved him, too, of course. And goodness, if _that_ happened, they’d never get _any_ outside experience.

Grimacing, Alice stared at her friends’ faces, cursed this ridiculous Muggle game: Truth or Dare. What on earth was the bloody point of it? And why had she been so ridiculous as to pick Truth? Dare would have been easier—maybe asking someone out, not doing her homework, making a cheeky comment to her teacher. Those were doable and not very embarrassing, either.

Taking a deep breath, she took the bull by the horns. “Yes. Two months ago.”

A chorus of sharply inhaled breaths resounded. Lily Evans, a friend of several years, grinned mischievously and said, “Tell us _all._ ”

Alice’s face remained impassive for a second. She leaned back on her elbows, turned smoothly to Anna White, a Sixth Year, and said, “Truth or Dare, Anna?” She looked back at Lily and raised a challenging eyebrow.

Lily raised her glass in the air, grinning. “You win.”

~ ~ ~

Frank Longbottom let out cry of frustration and threw his homework across the room. He’d been attempting to do it for the last hour, but all he could think of was the breathy cry Alice had uttered when he had first entered her.

James Potter looked up from his notebook, smiling. “What? Alice not being very _open_ anymore?”

Astonished, Frank stared at him. “How did you know about that?”

Hearty laughter issued from the bathroom as Sirius Black stuck his head out of the door, tossing something onto Frank’s bed. For a minute, Frank was paralysed, staring at the lacy black bra in front of him. Then, he flung himself into action, stuffing the bra under his pillow, ignoring James and Sirius as they laughed.

Thanking his stars that Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were currently not in the dormitory, Frank glared at his two so-called friends. “You BASTARDS!”

James grinned. “Oh, come on. You’d do the same.”

Frank cast him a weary look. “Point.”

Sirius came out of the bathroom and sat on Frank’s four-poster bed, a towel around his waist. “So what’s happening, Frank?”

He shrugged, looking down at his hands. “I dunno, guys. She hasn’t even, you know, brought it up since then. I don’t know why.”

Sirius let out a chortle. “Maybe she wants to forget it ever happened!”

“Shut up,” Frank said automatically, gaze absent. “No, I know she liked it. I mean, it was great. But she hasn’t said anything. I tried to bring it up, but she keeps avoiding the subject!”

James suddenly went very still. “Uh, Frank, you did make sure that nothing would…happen, right?”

Frank glanced at him. “What?”

Sirius raised his eyebrows, then grimaced. “Oh.”

“What—” Frank fell silent, staring at his hands. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running out of the dormitory.

James stared sympathetically at the door. “Bad news. But she—” he glanced at Sirius, then quickly looked away and said, “Er, Padfoot, you might want to cover the old soldier.”

Sirius quickly shut his gaping towel, turning bright red. “Right,” he said, getting up to get some trousers. “Right.”

“By the way, I think the old soldier is getting—”

“Shut up!” Sirius took Frank’s pillow and threw it at James’ laughing face.

~ ~ ~

_2 Weeks Later_

 

_Christmas Eve_

 

“We _have_ to tell her,” Frank said, in his bedroom.

Alice sighed, sitting down on his bed, resting her back against the headboard. “But why?”

“You told your parents. We can’t just ignore my mother!” Frank said, sitting down next to her, squeezing her hands.

“How about we tell her when the baby’s born? We can send her a lovely owl; it’ll be adorable.” 

“Stop that,” Frank said. “She’s not as scary as she looks. She allowed you to come to my place for the Christmas holidays, didn’t she? Come on. We’ll tell her together. I’ll do the talking.”

Alice sighed. “Okay,” she said quietly, kissing her boyfriend lightly on the cheek. “Let’s tell her now.”

Frank sighed, watching her make her way to the door. Before she was halfway there, however, the door burst open and Frank’s mother came in. Eyes fairly bugging out of her head, she pointed a finger at Alice. “YOU!”

There was a resounding silence. Frank instinctively tensed, getting up off the bed and coming to stand next to his girlfriend, ready to defend her. To his astonishment, Alice stepped forward.

“I suppose you’ve just found out about my pregnancy.” Seeing her father and mother in Mrs. Longbottom’s wake, probably having arrived to pay surprise visit, Alice continued, “My parents probably just told you. I hope you can be happy for us.”

Frank stared at his girlfriend’s profile. This was the first time in all the meetings she’d had with his mother that she’d looked Mrs. Longbottom in the eye. He looked at his mother, wondering if the explosion was going to happen.

“How can you have made such a mistake? You’re going to be stuck with a baby at SEVENTEEN!”

Alice raised an eyebrow. Frank gulped inwardly; that move always meant she was going to make a cheeky remark, or action. “Actually, I turn eighteen in a week, so I’ll be stuck with a baby at _eighteen_.” She smiled breezily, linking arms with Frank.

He wondered if his girlfriend had gone insane. He looked down at her head, unable to believe she’d just transformed from a terrified teenager to this…mischievous, independent… _person_. Then he spied the pulse beating in her neck, pounding away. 

She _was_ scared. But she wasn’t going to back down.

Mrs. Longbottom was quiet for a minute, staring at the two of them. “You’ve made a big mistake,” she said softly. “This is going to be so hard.”

“You’re pointing out the obvious,” Alice said just as softly. “We know it’s going to be hard. But there’s nothing we can do. Or you.”

There was a silence. Mrs. Longbottom looked at Frank. “What are you going to do?”

For the first time since he had found out about the baby, Frank realised he actually had a choice. He froze for a second, looking unseeingly at his mother. He could stay, or leave. So far, the latter choice hadn’t occurred to him, not until now. 

“We’re going to get married,” he said, squeezing Alice’s hand. He felt his girlfriend tense and wondered why, but she didn’t say anything.

Mrs. Longbottom looked at her future daughter-in-law. “You’ve agreed?”

Alice took in a deep breath. They’d already agreed to get married, yes, but one part of her was screaming to say no. It was ridiculous, really, but it was actually only about the sex. She didn’t want to have bad sex for the rest of her life. Biting her lip, ignoring her silliness, she said, “Yes. I love Frank. He loves me.”

Alice’s stomach clenched. This was it. She’d agreed. She was going to dread their marriage bed. Oh, _God._ But she loved Frank. And he was so wonderful. Why was this all about the physical aspect of things? Maybe it didn’t matter.

Mrs. Longbottom looked at them both. Then she straightened her spine and said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.” With that, she turned back to Alice’s parents, a brittle smile on her lips. “Shall we have dinner now?”

~ ~ ~

The rest of their holidays passed in a whirlwind for Alice. She didn’t spend much time with Frank because his mother wanted him to have some time to think without his girlfriend—and now they were going back to Hogwarts. Alice sighed inwardly. She’d spent many sleepless nights thinking about their marriage, convincing herself it would be a good thing. She hadn’t quite succeeded. Even now, she was dreading it.

Biting her lip, she focused on the book in her lap. It was time to move on, time to accept her future. Why cry over spilt milk? She was going to have a wonderful baby with Frank. Things would right themselves.

“Hey.”

Glancing up, she saw Frank entering the compartment, smiling. Heart contracting, she smiled back, even as her brain continued to scream _no_. “Hello,” she replied lightly.

He sat next to her, wrapped his arm around her, and kissed her. She kissed him back, a blush rising to her cheeks at the thought that the last time they’d _really_ kissed, they’d ended up in bed. Breaking the kiss, she gestured to her book. “No distractions; this is a good book.”

He smiled slightly. She wished she could see his expression, but the lighting in the compartment threw his face into shadow. “No problem,” he said, leaning against the back of the seat.

~ ~ ~

The next day, when Alice woke up, before the sun had even risen, she stared at the ceiling, thinking about her pregnancy. She was going to have a baby in about seven months. A _baby_! Smiling inwardly, she thought about being a mother. Was she ready?

She still felt so young, so immature. How was she to know that she wouldn’t make a mistake with the baby? After all—

Alice sat up in bed suddenly, eyes wide. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she thought furiously. Kicking off her blanket, she got out of bed, striding to the bathroom. She found the potion under the sink. Carefully, she opened the bottle, peering inside. It was green, the right colour. But…

Taking the potion with her, she tossed on her dressing gown. There was only one way to make sure.

~ ~ ~

When Frank came down to breakfast that morning, he was astonished to see Alice sitting there already, eating her breakfast brightly, laughing and talking with her friends. Since when was his girlfriend an early riser? 

He moved to sit next to her, but before he could actually sit, she saw him. Opening her eyes wide in delight, she said, “Frank! I want to talk to you.”

Before he could get a word out, she stood up, took his arm and began to steer him to the doors. “Wait, what the hell?”

She tossed him a happy smile. “Have patience, Frankie.”

He allowed that, knowing she would soon tell him whatever it was that had sent her into such raptures. She led him down a corridor and stopped at a random classroom. Stepping inside, she gestured at him to enter. “Close the door behind you.”

He did, turning to face her with a raised eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

She paused a moment, taking in a deep breath. “I’m _not pregnant_!”

_“What_?”

“I’m not pregnant! The potion was wrong. I’d added too many sunflower seeds. I guess I wasn’t very sane the day I made it, what with worrying that I was pregnant. Anyway, I remade it, and I’m not pregnant!” The words were a jumble, rushed with enthusiasm.

Frank felt lost. “How do you know the new one is right?”

She laughed. “I know. I thought about that, too. So I remade _two_ potions and tried them both. I’m not pregnant!”

She threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, laughing. He hugged her back automatically, his brain thinking furiously. Something was wrong about this and he didn’t know what.

She leaned back in his arms, beaming. “Oh, this is so wonderful, Frank! Now we don’t have to worry about anything. About taking care of a baby, a marriage, nothing!”

He froze. “What do you mean, a _marriage_?” 

She stilled, looking into his eyes, realising something was very wrong. “Well, you know, now we don’t have to _rush_ into a marriage. We have time to think and—”

His eyes sharpened, hardened. “There’s nothing to think about. We’re getting married.”

Alice moved to disentangle herself from his arms, but they tightened around her. “Frank, it’s not necessary now. We don’t have a baby to think about.” She stared at him, wondering what on earth was going on. 

“Baby or no baby, we’re still getting married. Whatever gave you the idea that I was marrying you only because of that?” Frank said, anger creeping into his tone.

Her heart was pounding now. This was all wrong. “But I don’t _want_ to get married,” she said.

“Now?”

“Well, no. I meant…ever,” she said. But that was a lie. She did want to get married…eventually. But that sex issue with him…

He stared at her. “That’s not true. You _do_ want to get married. But you’re still saying no. Why?”

Heat entered her cheeks. “It’s personal. I just don’t want to marry _you_.”

“Why?” He couldn’t quite believe what was going on. All those weeks of odd behaviour…and now she said this. “You love me. Isn’t that enough?”

“Not for me,” she said quietly. “I… Frank, I don’t want to marry you because of the sex.”

He shook his head. “Bear with me for a minute and explain what you mean.”

Her cheeks were a fiery red. “I…the sex between us—it isn’t very good, is it?”

He blushed this time. Well, he’d been completely wrong about that. “Okay. But we’re young. We’ll get better.”

“We might not.”

He stared at her. “We will. Alice, come on. We’re so _young_. The first time you walked, you didn’t run, did you? You got better at it. It’s the same with this. We’ll get better.”

“Are you sure?” She looked doubtful.

_“Yes_.” He smiled down at her. “Why don’t I prove it to you?”

“We can’t,” she said, pushing at his chest, blush intensifying. “We have class in half an hour.”

He grinned. “We’ll make it a quickie. I bet you I’ve improved already and so have you.”

She laughed. “Fine. But if you lose…”

“Nope. You have to give me more than one try. Give it a month. If we’re still hopeless at it, and it’s not even slightly better, then we won’t get married. How’s that?” He grinned at her. 

She smiled. “You’re on, Longbottom.”


End file.
